Tokai Talbo Bass chrome

[OldGit]

Not mine, just a heads up ..

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tokai-Talbo-Bass-chrome-beauty_W0QQitemZ230264770258QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230264770258&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C65%3A3&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]Tokai Talbo Bass chrome[/url] £700 ono

[s_u_y_*]

That's an interesting bass!

[Kev]

i'm no expert, but that seems an awful lot of money for a tokai, isn't it?? nice bass though

[dangerboy]

An aluminium body without an aluminium neck seems like a waste...

[budget bassist]

jesus, don't they usually go for about £300?

[Bassassin]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='231697' date='Jul 3 2008, 12:11 AM']jesus, don't they usually go for about £300?[/quote]

List price for the Talbo is (or was, not sure if they make/import 'em any more) £899 - and they are rare as a really rare thing. Most Tokais these days are Korean-made, hence the low prices, but the Japanese ones are typically a lot dearer, particularly exotica like Talbos.

I've err... got one. I really should get it out of the case & put some strings on it, shouldn't I?

Jon.

[BigRedX]

There's one in Music Ground on Denmark Street that's got a £799 price tag on it. These days it's being described as second hand, although I'm pretty certain it's the same one that's always been there and was once being sold (for the same price as new). Also the body has several casting marks on it (something that I saw on the only other Talbo in this country but not in any in Japan) which leads me to suspect that it's a second.

I bought one from Ishibashi U-box earlier this year that is in pristine condition except for an almost invisible mark where there used to be a sticker on the body and that cost me just under £500 including shipping and customs.

If the body is free of casting marks and the bass is generally in good condition then around £500 would be a sensible price.

If you really want one your best bet is to wait for another at Ishibashi - there was a blue Talbo bass earlier this week but it's already gone.

[OldGit]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='231742' date='Jul 3 2008, 07:29 AM']There's one in Music Ground on Denmark Street that's got a £799 price tag on it. These days it's being described as second hand, although I'm pretty certain it's the same one that's always been there and was once being sold (for the same price as new). Also the body has several casting marks on it (something that I saw on the only other Talbo in this country but not in any in Japan) which leads me to suspect that it's a second.

I bought one from Ishibashi U-box earlier this year that is in pristine condition except for an almost invisible mark where there used to be a sticker on the body and that cost me just under £500 including shipping and customs.

If the body is free of casting marks and the bass is generally in good condition then around £500 would be a sensible price.

If you really want one your best bet is to wait for another at Ishibashi - there was a blue Talbo bass earlier this week but it's already gone.[/quote]


What does it sound like? How heavy is it and is it nice to play?

[Bassassin]

They are pretty heavy - when I got mine, it was the heaviest bass I'd owned (since eclipsed by the Rickenbugger!) and it's very nice to play - the reason I bought it. Well, that's what I told myself at the time...

The fact of the matter is that mine's been in its case since I moved last August - I found that using it with the setup & effects I use live, it's very, very prone to feedback, so I don't gig it. Because of the metal body construction, it's naturally very bright, the hollow body makes it highly resonant too - so add a little bit of overdrive (and I really don't use much!) and the damn thing squeals like a piggy.

Basically I took mine to bits to see if there would be any way of deadening the resonance - to find it's already packed with foam. The scratchplate on mine tends to rattle too, so my intention was to put something under its edges to rectify that. It is a back-burner project at the moment - I'd love to make it giggable, simply because it's a stunning-looking bass, but these days I'm spoilt for choice, what with all my cheap JapCrap tat, so it's not currently a priority!

J.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='231882' date='Jul 3 2008, 12:03 PM']They are pretty heavy - when I got mine, it was the heaviest bass I'd owned (since eclipsed by the Rickenbugger!) and it's very nice to play - the reason I bought it. Well, that's what I told myself at the time...

The fact of the matter is that mine's been in its case since I moved last August - I found that using it with the setup & effects I use live, it's very, very prone to feedback, so I don't gig it. Because of the metal body construction, it's naturally very bright, the hollow body makes it highly resonant too - so add a little bit of overdrive (and I really don't use much!) and the damn thing squeals like a piggy.

Basically I took mine to bits to see if there would be any way of deadening the resonance - to find it's already packed with foam. The scratchplate on mine tends to rattle too, so my intention was to put something under its edges to rectify that. It is a back-burner project at the moment - I'd love to make it giggable, simply because it's a stunning-looking bass, but these days I'm spoilt for choice, what with all my cheap JapCrap tat, so it's not currently a priority!

J.[/quote]

Ha ha..
that's what I'd call a gigable bass in that you hang it by the nut on a stand at the side of the stage as a "spare" hoping you never have to use it but enjoying its looks ..

[BigRedX]

I haven't had any feedback problems with mine so far, but I haven't used it at anything other than home studio volumes so far. Plus I don't really use any overdrive/distortion in my usual bass sound. I cured the rattley scratch plate by lining the surround with double-sided tape before screwing it back on although I don't think that this is a long-term solution, so next time I change the strings I'll look at lining the underside of the scratch plate with some grey coloured material. Mine still has an untraceable rattle on some notes on the A-string but they seem to be acoustic only. Weight-wise I think it's about average... Heavier than the Lace Helix and Lightwave but much lighter than my Aluminium-necked Kramers and the Overwater. Sound-wise I find it pretty versatile, plenty of top-end zing should you want it, but still plenty of weight behind the notes without needing to boost the bass too much.

For me it's very much as spare rather than a first-choice bass, but I wouldn't have any problem having to use it at a gig so long as it wasn't one of the songs where I use the B-string.